Rust

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB delivers a mid-range combination for Rust, a survival title that remains demanding despite its 2018 release. This combo ranks 1085th out of 2953 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, with benchmark data indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom for high refresh rates at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s position at 1085 out of 2953 tested combinations puts it in the 63rd percentile overall, meaning roughly 37% of tested combos deliver higher average frame rates in Rust. This is a respectable showing for a mid-range pairing, but it is not a top-tier result. The ranking reflects a balance where the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus limit performance at 4K, while the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads ensure that lower resolutions are not starved for processing power.

Looking at the CPU’s standalone metrics, the Core i5-14400F sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32279. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (score 32233, delta 0.1%), the Intel Core i9-11900 (score 32226, delta 0.2%), and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (score 32354, delta -0.2%). These deltas are minuscule, with the i5-14400F effectively trading blows with these processors within a 0.5% margin. The Intel Core i7-12800H trails slightly with a score of 32121 and a delta of 0.5%. This tells us the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo; its compute performance is comparable to several high-end laptop and desktop chips from previous generations.

The GPU, however, tells a different story. The RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB has an average benchmark score of 4901 and sits in only the 29th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro W5130M (score 4904, delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (score 4893, delta 0.2%), the AMD Radeon R7 M265 (score 4929, delta -0.6%), and the AMD Radeon R7 M360 (score 4931, delta -0.6%). These are older or lower-tier cards, and the fact that the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is grouped with them in aggregate benchmark scores is telling. However, this aggregate score includes older DirectX tests that do not reflect modern gaming workloads. In Rust specifically, the measured FPS shows the GPU is capable of playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but it struggles at 4K Ultra.

The combo rank is heavily influenced by the GPU’s performance ceiling. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 188 FPS, which is excellent, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 33 FPS. This wide spread indicates that the combo’s ranking is an average across resolutions and settings, and users who prioritize 1080p or 1440p gaming will see better relative performance than those targeting 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2407 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). It contains 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, along with 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 123.5 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 370.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 23.70 TFLOPS.

In Rust, the GPU’s role becomes clear when examining the measured FPS across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 188 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it falls to 81 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution is 107 FPS, which indicates that the GPU is heavily taxed by the higher graphical settings. At 4K, the situation worsens: Low yields 76 FPS, Medium 51 FPS, High 43 FPS, and Ultra 33 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is likely a contributing factor at 4K Ultra, where texture data and scene complexity can exceed the available memory, causing the GPU to swap data and reduce frame rates.

The GPU’s aggregate benchmark scores are low relative to its modern architecture, but the PassMark G3D score of 21981 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4019 provide some context. The DirectX 12 score in PassMark is just 82, which is surprisingly low, but this may reflect the test’s specific workload rather than real-world gaming. For Rust, the measured data shows the GPU delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K only viable at Low settings. The GPU’s 180 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate it is a power-efficient card, but the 128-bit memory bus limits its high-resolution potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Rust?

A: The measured data shows 1080p delivers the highest frame rates, with 188 FPS at Low, 126 FPS at Medium, 107 FPS at High, and 81 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, the combo still performs well with 129 FPS at Low, but Ultra drops to 56 FPS. For 4K, only Low (76 FPS) is consistently playable, while Medium (51 FPS) and High (43 FPS) are borderline, and Ultra (33 FPS) is not.

Q: How does the Core i5-14400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, delta 0.2%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, delta 0.5%) and marginally behind the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, delta -0.2%). These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM enough for Rust?

A: The data suggests that 8 GB is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p across all settings, as the combo maintains playable frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 33, which indicates the GPU may be running out of memory or bandwidth. The 128-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are the likely limiting factors at 4K.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB sits in the 29th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4901. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W5130M (4904, delta -0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (4893, delta 0.2%), which are much older cards.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in Rust?

A: No. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, provide ample processing power. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 188 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the GPU is the limiting component, not the CPU. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 83 among all CPUs further supports this.

Q: What are the measured FPS for Medium settings at each resolution?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 126 with a minimum of 107 and a maximum of 145. At 1440p Medium, the average is 87 with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. At 4K Medium, the average is 51 with a minimum of 44 and a maximum of 59.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of how this combo performs in Rust across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings yield an average of 188 FPS, which is exceptional for a survival game with complex environments. Medium settings produce 126 FPS average, with a minimum of 107 FPS and a maximum of 145 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience even in busy scenes. High settings drop to 107 FPS average, which is still highly playable on a 144 Hz monitor. Ultra settings reduce the average to 81 FPS, which is acceptable but shows the GPU’s limits at the highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease as expected. Low settings produce 129 FPS average, which is still very high and indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. Medium settings average 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS, providing a solid 1440p experience. High settings drop to 73 FPS average, which is playable but may require V-Sync or adaptive sync to avoid tearing. Ultra settings fall to 56 FPS average, which is at the edge of smooth playability for fast-paced combat.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings produce 76 FPS average, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Medium settings average 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS, indicating noticeable dips during intense moments. High settings drop to 43 FPS average, which is borderline for a survival game where reaction time matters. Ultra settings average just 33 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and will feel sluggish.

The data shows a clear pattern: the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1080p, all settings are playable, with Low and Medium providing high refresh rate performance. At 1440p, Low and Medium are excellent, High is acceptable, and Ultra is marginal. At 4K, only Low is consistently above 60 FPS, and even then, it is close to the threshold. The 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are the likely culprits for the steep drop at 4K, as the GPU cannot feed the frame buffer fast enough for high-resolution textures.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component in this combo. Starting at 1080p Low with 188 FPS, the frame rate falls to 129 FPS at 1440p Low (a 31% reduction) and then to 76 FPS at 4K Low (a 60% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s performance does not change with resolution. The CPU has a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and 10 cores, which is sufficient to feed the GPU at all resolutions, as evidenced by the high 1080p frame rates.

For Medium settings, the drop is similar: 126 FPS at 1080p, 87 FPS at 1440p (a 31% reduction), and 51 FPS at 4K (a 60% reduction from 1080p). High settings show 107 FPS at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p (a 32% reduction), and 43 FPS at 4K (a 60% reduction). Ultra settings follow the same trend: 81 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p (a 31% reduction), and 33 FPS at 4K (a 59% reduction). The consistency of these reductions across all settings suggests a linear scaling with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

The fact that the FPS drops by roughly 30% from 1080p to 1440p and another 40% from 1440p to 4K (relative to 1080p) indicates that the GPU’s rendering throughput is the limiting factor. The CPU’s performance, as measured by its average benchmark score of 32279 and its 83rd percentile ranking, is more than adequate for this game. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 188 FPS, which is near the upper limit for many monitors, and even at 1440p Low, 129 FPS is high. The GPU’s 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 128-bit bus are the bottlenecks at higher resolutions, as the data rate required to fill the screen with textures and shaders exceeds what the card can deliver.

This scaling also highlights that the combo is not well-suited for 4K gaming. Even at Low settings, the 76 FPS average is close to the 60 FPS target, but Medium and above fall below it. For users with 1080p or 1440p monitors, the combo provides a strong experience, but for 4K, a GPU with more VRAM and a wider memory bus would be necessary.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, and it has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes for the CPU. The CPU has no integrated graphics, so a discrete GPU is required.

In Rust, the CPU’s role is to handle game logic, entity updates, and physics calculations. The game is known for its CPU-intensive nature, especially on servers with many players and structures. The i5-14400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallelism for these tasks, and its 4.70 GHz boost clock ensures strong single-threaded performance. The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 11268 and single-core score of 2058. These numbers place the CPU in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is a strong performer.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in aggregate score are all within 0.5% of its 32279 average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, delta 0.2%) are effectively tied, while the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, delta -0.2%) is slightly ahead and the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, delta 0.5%) is slightly behind. These differences are negligible in gaming, where the GPU typically dominates performance.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s impact is most visible at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 188 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s output, as a weaker CPU would bottleneck at lower resolutions. The fact that the FPS drops by about 30% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, regardless of settings, confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s performance headroom means that users could pair it with a more powerful GPU in the future without needing to upgrade the processor.

The CPU’s memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 is a flexibility point, though the combo’s performance in Rust does not appear to be memory-bound based on the scaling data. The 20 MB of L3 cache is shared across all cores, which helps with game data access patterns. Overall, the Core i5-14400F is a capable partner for the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB in Rust, providing enough processing power to avoid bottlenecks at 1080p and 1440p, while the GPU’s limitations define the combo’s performance ceiling at 4K.